It’s A Dirty Job But Someone Has To Do It
Crawl Space and Attic Insertion By K-9 Officer Brad Smith
West Covina Police Department
Swat members are no different. They wear 20 to 30 pounds of gear plus, gas masks. The last place they want to be is under a house or in an attic. Most dirty jobs go to the person who has the least seniority. During a Swat deployment it is the smallest team member who gets drafted, I mean voluntaries.
The only member of a patrol force or SWAT team who, after the proper training, conditioning and motivation, really loves to go into these god forsaken places is a police service dog (P.S.D.). When a P.S.D. has been properly exposed to this type of search environment, he will drag you to any crawl space he sees.
Crawl Space
We have a phrase at our training facility: ?Dogs are dumb but they are not stupid.? What we mean is, dogs have no idea how dangerous a job they are doing. They have no idea they can be seriously hurt or killed. To the dog he is just playing a game of hide and seek. At the beginning dogs no not naturally enjoy going under houses or into attic?s to search for suspects. In fact, the look on the dogs face is, ?You want me to do what??
When a dog is searching properly for a suspect the dog will be in prey drive. The best way to make the dog want to search under a house is to stimulate the dogs prey drive. To teach the dog to search under a house I have found the following techniques work best.
Let the dog see the agitator crawl under the house approx. 20? from the crawl space. Bring your dog up to the crawl space and down him just outside the crawl space with his head in the opening. By downing the dog in the crawl space the dog will see where he is suppose to search.
Do not be in a hurry to send your dog under the house. Normally there will be a draft coming out of the crawl space. Let the dog use his sense of smell and breath in the air coming from under the house. The dog will be able to smell anyone who is hiding under the house. You should see a definite change of behavior in the dogs body language when there is a suspect under the house compared to when there is no one under the house.
Give your normal K-9 announcement to stimulate the dogs prey drive and let him know it is time to search. After your first announcement have the agitator make some noise so the dog is focused on the suspect. Once the dog is properly trained there should be no need to have the agitator make any noise. The dogs should have learned to use their nose to detect the scent of the suspect. Give a second announcement and release your dog on the bite command. Your dog should go in and bite the agitator.
Until you are confident your dog is comfortable under the house leave your dog on the bite for 30-45 seconds. Some dogs need time to adjust to this different environment. Others will only need to adjust to the echoing sound or the small confined area. During this training phase do not add the extra compulsion on the dog by having him release the bite from a distance under the house. Have the dog drag the suspect over to the opening and physically take the dog off the bite as I explained in my ?Tactical Release? article. Remember to praise your dog as he pulls the decoy towards the opening. You want your dog to know he is doing the right thing. Repeat this same process several times. Each time have the decoy move further and further away from the opening.
Due to the different type of search environment, some of the dogs may be hesitant or type writer the bite. To help solve this problem use a long line so you can have better control over the dog. When you send your dog under the house you can ?reel? the dog out slowly on the long line. This will keep the dog high in prey drive and pulling all the way to the suspect. This will also make the dog feel more confident and simulate that you are right behind the dog. Once the dog bites, keep some tension on the long line. In no time your dog will be searching under a house without any stimulation from the decoy or long line.
Attic Insertion
There is not a great deal of difference between an attic insertion and a search under a house except the way the dog gets into the search area. Once again, go back to basic?s when you are teaching your dog this search.
The first thing you need to do is get the dog used to being picked up and carried around. There are two different techniques to pick up your dog. The first technique is called a cradle carry. This technique is done by wrapping your arms around your dogs front and back legs and stand up. After you pick up the dog walk around with him so he gets used to being carried around. Once you can pick up your dog and walk around without any problems have other members of your police department or SWAT team practice with you. You never know when they might have to do this instead of you.
The other technique is a shoulder carry. If your dog is on your left side, bend down and place your left arm under your dogs mid section and give your dog a hug. With your right hand you want to grab your dogs collar and stand up. As you stand up, you want to gentle place the dog onto your shoulder. Talk to your dog to reassure him things are okay. Stay in this position until your dog has calmed down. Once your dog is calm walk around with him. You should also practice with other officers so they get used to this kind of carry also. You never know which type of carry will work the best. This is way it is best to practice and become proficient in both techniques.
Once you have mastered the different techniques you can now start working on the attic insertion. As I said earlier, there is not a lot of difference in the two searches except the way the dogs get into the search area. Just like the under the house search, you need to stimulate the dogs prey drive. Pick up your dog and walk over to the attic opening. Once you are standing by the opening give your announcement.
After giving your announcement have the decoy show himself in the opening and stimulate the dogs prey drive. Depending on how still the dog is sitting on your shoulder or in your arms you, might be able to give a second announcement. As you give the second announcement you should start to climb up the latter (with help from other officers) and insert your dog into the opening and give the bit command. You might need to leave a long line on the dog for the same reason as mentioned above. Once the dog is biting well, have the decoy move further and further away until your dog can search an entire attic without any stimulation.
Getting the dog into the attic was the easy part. The hard part of this is getting the dog out of the attic. Some dogs will slowly come over the opening and allow you to pull them out of the attic and into your waiting arms. Other dogs will avoid the opening like the plague. You will have to coax the dog over to the opening and drag him out of the attic. Depending on the dogs temperament and personality, you might want to muzzle the dog before you try this.
In a real attic insertion, I would recommend using an attic mirror prior to inserting the dog. The attic mirror will give you a chance to survey the attic and see if there is someone close by waiting to ambush you.
One of the training hazards of attic insertions is your dog trying to defy gravity and falling through the ceiling. If this happens to your dog and he discovers he flies like a brick examine your dog and make sure he is not hurt. If your dog appears a little dazed but okay walk your dog around and try to calm him dog. If you can find a safe place in the attic you want to reinsert your dog back into the attic as soon as possible. You do not want your dog to end any training session on a bad note. Make the attic insertion a very quick and easy find and bite. If you end your training session on a bad note, your dog will remember what happen to him the next time you try and insert him into an attic.
Once your patrol force and Swat team realizes how skillful your P.S.D. is at clearing attics and under houses they will be requesting your services for almost every search. All these same techniques are taught and practiced at my K-9 Swat school called S.K.I.D.D.S. which stands for SWAT & K-9 Interacting During Deployment School. If you have any comments about my article or would like to inquire about future S.K.I.D.D.S. courses please call me at 626-814-8400 ext 8998. You can also E-mail me, at topdogwck1@aol.com.
